Patrol Prefecture.
After six consecutive failures at alchemy, never mind whether Elder Lu was anxious—at the very least, Zhang Qing was. The next day, the more he thought about it, the more something felt off. Despite being busy, he even carved out time to comfort Lin Chang'an.
"Junior Brother, there's a fairly good shop in West City. Do you still remember Liu Yanran?"
Early that morning, Zhang Qing came looking for him again. Speaking casually, he shook his head and said, "What a pity. It was originally left to Liu Yanran by her mother, but now it's ended up in the hands of someone surnamed Wang again."
Lin Chang'an waved a hand casually after hearing this. "You mean Steward Liu?"
Back when the Liu Family had joined forces with the sect, dealings between them had naturally been unavoidable. He remembered this Steward Liu well enough.
"Yes, yes. Back then, the Liu Family Head's younger sister went away for over ten years. Everyone thought she had died, but then she suddenly returned with two daughters..."
As Zhang Qing teasingly recounted these bits of gossip, Lin Chang'an slowly narrowed his eyes. "Senior Brother Zhang, just say what you mean."
He did not believe Zhang Qing would bring this up for no reason. Zhang Qing grinned at that, a trace of cunning glinting in his eyes.
"Junior Brother, the Liu Family Head's sister had a shop in the Market back then, and it was later left to her two daughters. Recently, though, the Wang Family forcibly seized it back. To explain the whole affair, we'd have to dig through events from decades ago. It's impossible to sort out."
Seeing Zhang Qing rubbing his hands together, Lin Chang'an's eyes held amusement, though he put on a look of sudden realization. "Senior Brother, you mean this shop!"
Zhang Qing grinned and nodded. He knew his junior brother well—sending him women might not work, but sending him wealth would definitely do the trick.
After exchanging a glance, the two of them smiled. The Liu Family had fallen. On the surface, they had to protect them, but privately, they certainly could not work for nothing.
Zhang Qing had likely set his sights on this matter long ago, but since he now needed a favor, he had yielded this benefit to him.
"Junior Brother, I heard the Wang Family has dealings with the Beast Taming Zhou Family in secret."
That one sentence from Zhang Qing made Lin Chang'an immediately understand. While raking grass, he could also catch a rabbit—and gain a benefit for free.
Under the banner of this being Liu Family property, he could raid a Wang Family, earn himself a good reputation, and make a killing without losing a thing.
However! When Lin Chang'an thought of Liu Yanran, a smile appeared on his face. Perhaps he could eat from both ends.
"Junior Brother, rest well. Senior Brother believes that your next attempt at alchemy will definitely succeed!"
Before leaving, Zhang Qing clasped his hands with a broad smile. Lin Chang'an smiled and nodded as well. "Then I'll have to trouble Senior Brother with this."
After Zhang Qing left, Lin Chang'an, who had been listening to music alone in the main hall, no longer had his earlier patience. He happened to be short on Spirit Stones right now, yet someone had delivered themselves to his doorstep.
"Tell Qi Feng and Li Han to invite the Wang Family occupying the Liu Family's shop in West City to come over."
"Yes."
West City shop.
"I remember this used to be a Liu Family shop. When did it become your Wang Family's?"
Li Han and Qi Feng had learned quite a few things over the years. Now, standing before the shop, they spoke provocatively. The Wang Family members, who had only recently taken over the place, groaned inwardly, though they still had to force smiles onto their faces.
"Oh, aren't we all one of our own? Hurry, come in and have a cup of tea."
"Shopkeeper Wang—or should we call you Shopkeeper Liu?"
Qi Feng raised a brow and immediately made their purpose clear. Shopkeeper Wang, who was preparing to open this new shop, stepped forward with a smile and clasped his hands.
"I'm from the Wang Family. We've always done business with the sect. Brother Zhang Qing knows me—we're all one of our own."
Qi Feng raised a brow and gave Li Han beside him a look. The next moment, Li Han cleared his throat and said coldly, "You said it yourself—that was then. This is now!"
"Elder Lu has made it clear that the Liu Family is our ally. Fellow Daoist Wang, isn't what you're doing a little inappropriate?"
Qi Feng and Li Han spoke one after another. How could Shopkeeper Wang fail to understand? Though bitter inside, he kept smiling.
"You two don't know the full story. Back then, the Liu Family Head married my elder sister and occupied this shop, insisting it was part of her dowry. The Liu Family was powerful at the time, so we could only hold our noses and accept it."
Shopkeeper Wang explained with a wronged expression, but Qi Feng had no intention of hearing any of it. He simply sneered.
"Who knows what happened decades ago? Our place may be chaotic, but the Market's rules cannot be thrown into chaos. This shop is still registered with our Patrol Prefecture under the names of the Liu sisters."
"I understand, I understand." Shopkeeper Wang's face remained wreathed in smiles. "Our Wang Family had long planned to visit Steward Lin. We only heard that Steward Lin had been refining pills, so we never had the opportunity."
As they chatted and laughed, two Spirit Stones had already appeared in the hands of Qi Feng and Li Han. The three exchanged glances, then all smiled.
"My Brother Lin has already emerged from seclusion."
Qi Feng's words plainly meant that Lin Chang'an had emerged from seclusion—and that he already knew about this matter. Shopkeeper Wang's face immediately crumpled into an even broader smile.
"Please wait here a moment, you two. I'll have my worthless son prepare a modest gift, and we'll come pay a visit right away."
Li Han and Qi Feng merely assumed Lin Chang'an wanted to give the people below a warning, so they smiled and nodded.
Once Shopkeeper Wang entered the shop, his expression changed. Wang Sheng, who had long been hiding in the back and watching everything, was full of rage. The moment he saw his father come in, he erupted.
"Father, they're just two pieces of trash at early Qi Condensation. Why do you have to treat them like this?"
"Shut up!" Shopkeeper Wang viciously glared at his son, then snorted irritably. "Who do you think I painstakingly schemed and struggled to build all this for? Wasn't it all for you?"
"Your uncle Wang Youyun has already made our Wang Family lose all face. Now, you're the only one I can count on!"
Though Wang Sheng was only twenty years old, he had already reached the fifth level of Qi Condensation. Looking at his son's cultivation, Shopkeeper Wang showed a rare trace of satisfaction.
"Son, remember this: everything I do is for you. Cultivate well. One day, you must enter late Qi Condensation and win some honor for our Wang Family!"
He did not dare dream of Foundation Establishment. Within a thousand li of this place, there were only a few lineages and sects in total that possessed Foundation Establishment cultivators. Late Qi Condensation was already considered the strength of a regional expert.
"Triple the prepared gifts!"
Shopkeeper Wang's words instantly changed Wang Sheng's expression. "Father! Isn't that going too far?"
Seeing his son's stubborn refusal, Shopkeeper Wang could not help sighing. "If we had gone to visit them first, what we prepared before would naturally have been enough. But this time, they came knocking on our door. It isn't enough anymore."
"And besides!" At this point, Shopkeeper Wang patted his son's shoulder and laughed. "In the Patrol Prefecture's records, this shop is still under those two little wenches' names. We should take this chance to change it to the names of you and me, father and son."
"Go on now. Stop talking nonsense. The Wang Family will depend entirely on you from now on."
As his son's displeasure subsided, Shopkeeper Wang could not help laughingly curse, "You little bastard, you're even stingier than your old man."
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